章 576: 0574 Tricks n Wits

The girl appearing on the enormous magical screen still had a pale complexion and lips, but her brown eyes sparkled with a determined light. The audience watching could sense that this youngest Triwizard champion must have gone through an intense complex mental struggle in the brief span of time just moments ago as she prepared to face her dragon. Undoubtedly, just like the three champions who strode out onto the stage before her, she had managed to overcome her fear of seeing a dragon up so close.

"Accio— Invisibility Cloak!"

The crisp shout that rang out loud and clear across the stadium seemed to carry a resolute will behind it. The words penetrated the wispy thin clouds drifting in the air and went wandering freely under the blue sky.

"It's the Summoning Charm! Oh, I just taught that to them a few weeks ago-" Professor Flitwick exclaimed excitedly as he stood up on the judges' table, gleefully saying to his colleagues beside him.

Although sadly no one from his own house of Ravenclaw had been selected as a champion for the Triwizard Tournament, seeing the young champions skillfully use the charms he had taught them to deal with with the dragons still filled his heart with an immense sense of pride and glory.

"An Invisibility Cloak, oh, I see, what an innovative and great idea!" Ludo Bagman said, his voice nearly singing with thrilled cheerfulness. "It's just as I was emphasizing few moments ago, Miss Hermione Granger is a remarkably wise young witch, wise beyond her tender years. She has managed to find an ingenious alternate path here to blaze her own unique trail!"

"But this is a blatant violation of the rules!" Karkaroff shot up from his seat, staring at both Dumbledore and Bryan with unconcealed anger. "Aside from their wands, the champions are clearly forbidden from bringing any other magical items or objects with them on stage. This point was very clearly stipulated. I think we can all agree that this little girl should be immediately disqualified and prohibited from advancing to the next phase of the competition."

"If you didn't accidentally forget to bring your eyes and brain with you when you disembarked from your ship to come watch today's task, Professor Karkaroff-" Bryan spoke in an infuriatingly calm manner as he leaned back lazily in his cushioned chair with his both hands placed casually under the tabletop in front of him.

"Then surely you would have easily discovered that Miss Granger brought only her wand with her when she entered the arena, just like the other champions. In my opinion, she was simply quite fortunate to be randomly assigned a Chinese Fireball that is perhaps not fully accustomed to the climate conditions here in Scotland.

Additionally, it appears she also had the good fortune to have an invisibility cloak in her possession that she could quickly utilize. But in the final analysis, it was Miss Granger's remarkably bright and agile mind alone that allowed her to plan such an effective countermeasure in such short time."

'This is utter nonsense', Karkaroff thought resentfully to himself, silently fuming. 'It was blatantly obvious that this little girl somehow found out about the nature of today's task well in advance and this cunning trick was planned out and prepared for quite some time' - but of course, this was an accusation that could never be uttered out loud, not unless he wished to offend and alienate every other person here.

Just in the brief span of a few heated exchanges between the panel of judges, Hermione had been maintaining a firm gaze towards the sky as if she knew with absolute certainty that her Summoning Charm was sure to succeed and made no move to attempt the charm a second time.

"Wait a minute... is that invisibility cloak Harry's?" George asked, a look of tremendous surprise spreading across his face. "I have to admit, this strategy is really quite brilliant. You know, I think I'm starting to accept that maybe Hermione's brain is a tad sharper than ours, dear brother!"

"No, it's not-" Ron's abruptly interjected, his words trailing off and puzzling the group of Gryffindors gathered around him.

"Not what? Out with it, Ron! Speak clearly!" Ginny turned her head to stare at Ron, her brows knitted together in a frown.

Ron slowly raised a finger to point at the sky. A fluttering gray-white object had just sailed cleanly through the magical barrier and materialized in the air above the rocky arena. Ron also appeared quite shocked, as his eyes kept tracking the path of the gray-white cloak as it floated down to land softly in Hermione's outstretched hand.

"That's not Harry's invisibility cloak. I swear I've never seen that particular one before!" Ron said insistently.

The instant Hermione's cry of "Accio— Invisibility Cloak" rang out, Dumbledore in the center of the elevated judges' platform, immediately furrowed his brows slightly. But as soon as he spotted the summoned cloak clutched in Hermione's small hand on the screen, Dumbledore's brows relaxed and the twinkling returned to his light blue eyes behind the half-moon spectacles.

"Ah, yes, I see now - it's a rather simple travel cloak, woven from the fine silvery hair of a Demiguise. Oh dear, I'm afraid the craftsmanship doesn't appear to be of the highest quality. Well, let us hope that it proves adequate for the task at hand," Ludo commented with a tinge of concern obvious in his magnified voice.

Hermione gripped the invisibility cloak that had come soaring to her, and felt her racing, anxious heart finally began to settle into a more regular rhythm. In fact, this particular cloak was hastily crafted for her specifically for the tournament, only after communicating with Professor Moody. Hagrid even went out on a trip into the Forbidden Forest for the sole purpose of getting the necessary raw materials.

Actually, there should have been no need to go to such lengths initially. Harry already had an amazing invisibility cloak, one that Hermione had been using with Harry and Ron since their first year at Hogwarts. It was super effective and reliable.

But for some strange reason, Harry's cloak simply didn't respond when Hermione attempted to Summon it to her side. No matter how she tried, she couldn't use magic to call that Invisibility Cloak to her side.

Hermione looked up some information and figured out that some high-end Invisibility Cloaks would have some protective magic added during production. A strong, long-lasting anti-interference enchantment would be more than sufficient to block a standard Summoning Charm from taking effect.

Another collective gasp of wonder and amazement rippled through the crowd in the stadium seats. Every astonished eye was glued to the small figure of the Hogwarts champion as she swept the invisibility cloak over herself and promptly vanished from sight, as suddenly and completely as if she had Disapparated on the spot.

The omni-oculars hovering in mid-air seemed unable to capture the vanished Hermione. They circled around blankly on the spot for a few rounds, and then they all flew to the top of the hill together. Anyway, that place was Hermione's ultimate destination.

"What in Merlin's name am I supposed to do now, Bryan?" a panicked voice sounded in Bryan's mind, projected via Patronus. It was Sirius in the Fireball dragon shell doing his level best to give a convincing performance of a dragon guarding its eggs to the onlookers. " I don't know where Hermione is at the moment. If she approaches me, how can I move to avoid her without risking injuring her?"

Up on the judge's platform, Bryan calmly transmitted his response, "Stay calm, Sirius. Don't let yourself get worked up. I will provide real-time instructions to guide you through this."

"Instructions, he says," Sirius grumbled back. "Oh, easy for you to say - you must have noticed that learning to maneuver the walk of an enormous dragon is hardly a walk in the park. I'll wager I won't be able to react quickly enough, in the moment." Sirius had barely finished relaying this to the Patronus when Hermione's high, clear voice abruptly rang out from a small gully right in front of the mountain.

"Accio— Golden egg!"

Gasps and murmurs rumbled through the audience as Hermione boldly tried to use the Summoning Charm for a second time.

However, on this occasion, Hermione's charm sizzled out feebly. All of the eyes in the stadium turned to the golden egg lying beside several scarlet eggs which did not move at all, showing no intention of shifting its nest.

"Oh ho! It appears Miss Granger was hoping to replicate her previous success with the Summoning Charm, but fortune did not favor her this time around," Ludo narrated in an amused tone, "In order to prevent the champions from obtaining their golden eggs too easily, we took the precaution of layering some rather potent anti-interference spells when crafting them.

But nevertheless, we are treated to yet another display of Miss Granger's quick wit and creative intelligence. In this particular case, not a single one of her fellow champions thought of that rather ingenious tactic!"

Back on the rocky arena, the Chinese Fireball pacing by the dragon nest stumbled a step. Although he couldn't see Hermione's figure, her clear shout just now had let him figure out her approximate location. Hermione was already not far from the dragon nest. If he were truly the dragon he appeared to be, releasing a dragon's breath in that direction would likely spell a swift and brutal end to Hermione's efforts in one fell swoop.

The fact that the dragon eggs could not be summoned was indeed beyond Hermione's expectation. The moment she realized this plan had failed, she immediately started to rapidly change positions. When she reached a new spot that she considered safe, Hermione turned her head and saw that the Fireball dragon was still crouching and guarding by the dragon nest, not showing any signs of being provoked.

This discovery made Hermione let out a big sigh of relief - it was a terrible mistake. She thought she should be able to get the dragon egg, so she got this close. Fortunately, her opponent was not so alert.

Since the tricky method didn't work, she could only take the risk in person.

Hermione, who had already overcome the mental hurdle, wanted more than just to pass the test. She also wanted to have an outstanding score. She had to seize the time, because time was also a very important factor in the judges' scoring.

With a cold breath, Hermione tensed her body and prepared to dash out from behind her hiding boulder, intending to sprint the remaining distance to the nest in a quick squatted run, relying on the cloak and her speed to get her through, but a sudden flicker of movement caught her eye and stopped her legs.

Peering carefully through the cloak, Hermione watched warily as the Fireball shifted its huge body, walking slowly around the borders of its nest, with its head spinning from side to side.

For one scary moment, Hermione could have sworn the dragon was staring straight at her hiding spot. She held herself perfectly motionless, barely daring to breathe, but after a moment, the dragon appeared to have lost interest, and resumed its walk of the nest.

Hermione slowly exhaled, but she didn't run forward right away. The dragon's apparently idle movements struck her as...peculiar, somehow. She was hardly an expert on dragon behavior, but some instinct was saying that it was not that simple.

Biting her lip, Hermione made the decision to delay her final advance and remain hidden a bit longer. Her palms were sweaty on the handle of her wand as she continued to observe the dragon's every movement with focus for anything that might give her an advantage when the time came to make her move.

Now the straight-line distance between her and the nest was probably only thirty feet. At this position, the dragon's majestic body could give one an overwhelming sense of awe.

Sirius suddenly smelled a familiar scent - he was in his Animagus form inside the dragon shell, and this allowed him to have the keener senses possessed by his dog form. Instinctively, the Fake-dragon Sirius wanted to turn his head and look back, but halfway through the action, he immediately realized that it was better to pretend to be completely unaware.

"Seven seconds later, spin your body and use your tail to strike the rock wall fifteen feet above the ground-" At this moment, Bryan's voice suddenly sounded beside Sirius.

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章 577: 0575 Dread

"What?!" Sirius exclaimed incredulously, his jaw dropping in disbelief at Bryan's sudden words. "Aren't we supposed to be helping Hermione succeed in the tournament? I thought the whole point was to ensure she passed each challenge!"

"I never said that, Sirius, we need to stage a convincing show, and setbacks and obstacles are still necessary for her to overcome. It also can't appear too easy, or people will grow suspicious."

"But this is dangerous!" Sirius protested fervently; his brow furrowed with concern. "She could be seriously hurt or worse!"

"Have faith, Sirius. I have the utmost confidence in my students," Bryan reassured him. "Hermione is a capable young witch. She can handle a crisis like this."

This rapid-fire conversation between the two of them happened in five or six seconds, unnoticed by the captivated spectators. All eyes were fixed on the Chinese Fireball dragon, which had been listlessly pacing about moments ago but had now tensed its body, as if it had detected something amiss. It unfolded its bat-like wings fully and its dark crimson, vertically slit pupils flickered with a piercing, predatory light.

"What's going on?" Ludo asked, his voice laced with bewilderment and a touch of uneasiness. "The dragon appears to have noticed something, but we didn't see anything out of the ordinary!"

'Now!' Bryan's voice rang out beside Sirius, prompting him into action.

The fascinated audience witnessed the Chinese Fireball raise back its neck and release another "roar". With a sudden, violent twist of its body, it lashed its tail out striking the rocky wall behind it with immense force!

A thunderous explosion shook the stadium, sending shockwaves rippling through the stands. Traces of twisted, distorted iron railings appeared amidst the rubble of the once-intact mountain wall as rough stones plunged through the air like deadly projectiles.

It seemed the Chinese Fireball had misjudged its own strength in its agitated state. Shrouded in billowing plumes of smoke and choking dust, the dragon's claws scrabbled for supporting grip on the trembling ground before it lost its balance and crashed to the ground with a boom.

Hermione, who had been stealthily crawling her way along the rock wall, drawing closer to the golden egg, suddenly felt an ominous gust of wind rush over her.

A fleeting glimpse of a massive black shadow appeared across her startled eyes. In the next instant, the solid rock wall she had been pressed against and the ground beneath her feet began to quake and shudder violently, as if due to the impacts of an earthquake and a hail of sharp stones bombarded down on her from above.

Before she could fully process the unfolding chaos, the powerful gusts generated by the dragon's thrashing tail had already torn away the invisibility cloak that had concealed her from view.

The abrupt brightness that assaulted her vision left Hermione momentarily dazed and disoriented. But the finely-honed survival instincts she had developed over those PE classes prompted her into action.

With lightning-quick reflexes, Hermione crouched low to the ground, simultaneously casting a Protego shield charm over her head to deflect the raining debris!

"What in Merlin's name is happening?" Many of the spectators cried out in unison with Ludo Bagman, unable to understand how the dragon had managed to detect Hermione's presence despite her seemingly foolproof concealment.

"It's the scent," Bryan provided a logical explanation, his voice carrying an air of certainty. "This Chinese Fireball has an extraordinarily keen sense of smell."

This was likely the most dangerous predicament that had risen since the start of the task for Hermione. Regardless of the cause behind the funny Fireball dragon's unexpected tumble, the undeniable reality was that Hermione, who had been so close to reaching the outer edge of the dragon's nest was now trapped against the rock wall by the Chinese Fireball.

The dragon's head alone was nearly twice the size of Hermione's entire body, and it loomed only a few dozen feet away from her where its fiery breath was palpable!

As Hermione stared into those fiery crimson eyes, a bone-chilling terror surged through her body, originating from the soles of her feet and rapidly engulfing her entire body.

The overwhelming fear crashed over her like a choking tidal wave, trying to drag her down into the depths of unconsciousness. Her voice failed her, trapped in her constricted throat, as the crushing pressure emanating from the dragon's head made her totally voiceless!

Lost in the shock and terror, Hermione failed to notice the fleeting glimmer of what almost appeared to be embarrassment in the Fireball's pupils.

This heart-stopping scene unfolding before the onlookers' eyes filled them with dread. As they watched the massive dragon stagger unsteadily to its feet, they collectively realized - once this beast regained its balance, Hermione Granger, trapped in such dangerous closeness with it, would undoubtedly meet a horrific and tragic end!

In the entrance tunnel, Harry gritted his teeth, clenching his teeth tightly to suppress the laughter as he observed the Chinese Fireball and the ashen-faced Hermione framed together on the enormous viewing screen.

His friends and classmates, however, showed an obviously different reaction. Ron and Neville, along with the rest of their Gryffindors, wore expressions of horror and disbelief. Even Professor McGonagall looked traumatized, as if she had already foreseen the gruesome fate that awaited Hermione - being mercilessly torn limb from limb by the enraged dragon!

"Quick, you must save her, Albus, Bryan!" Professor McGonagall pleaded desperately, her voice trembling with urgency.

McGonagall was so startled that her wizard hat fell off. She stood up and turned her head to shout at the high judges' seats, but to her despair, the two people in the judges' seats did not respond.

Hermione gazed up at the dragon in silence, paralyzed with horror, and powerless to do anything but watch as the beast struggled to get up. Its raised head was as high as a three-story building!

'It's over,' Hermione thought sadly, tears of hopelessness welling up in her brown eyes. Whether she met her demise by being ripped to shreds or roasted alive by searing dragonfire, the outcome was inevitable - she was clearly doomed.

She thought again that the person who had put her name in the Goblet of Fire was probably about to have their dream come true. Whether that person's goal was to kill her or to disgrace Hogwarts, they needed her to die in the arena.

But when she thought of this person who was harassing her with a conspiracy, a surge of anger suddenly welled up in Hermione's heart. This anger, filled with unwillingness, seemed to be her only remaining rationality that was not drowned by despair. She thought of the scares she had received during this period, the accusations and ridicule from some classmates, especially Ron--

But in any case, Harry and Ron were her best friends, and now the terrible relationship between the three of them was all thanks to this!

Moreover, she still hoped to prove that young wizards from Muggle descent like her could also be the best!

"What should I do now, Bryan?"

The dragon head spun slowly to focus its gaze upon Hermione huddled trembling at its feet and Sirius said irritably. "That previous scare was clearly too much for Hermione to handle. She appears to have lost all hope, all will to fight!"

"Oh, I don't think so, Sirius. You haven't seen the tenacious character of these children--" There was no sense of urgency in Bryan's voice, but rather, it was full of relaxation.

Sirius was about to question Bryan's statement, but he suddenly noticed that Hermione's terrified face, who was half-kneeling at his feet, had suddenly changed. The despair flickering in her eyes was still there, but there was an added determination!

"Breathe fire on her, Sirius--" Bryan ordered again.

"What?!" Sirius was stunned by this command. He almost looked in Bryan's direction, but fortunately he controlled his impulse in time. "I won't, Bryan. I'm not a real dragon!"

"It's okay, I'll help you--" Bryan, who was sitting beside the judges' seats, said calmly. When he saw Sirius baring his fangs at Hermione, a faint golden spark left the tip of Bryan's wand, escaped everyone's sight, quickly entered the field, climbed up the Fireball's scales, and then formed activating a scorching sun in the Fireball's mouth.

"Dear lord, we must..." Ludo Bagman stuttered, his eyes nearly bulging out of his head at the sight of a glowing ball of lava building within the dragon's jaws. "We must..."

At that exact instant, the entire arena froze. Every pair of eyes were locked on Hermione Granger. She stared directly into the growing golden sphere with a determined gaze completely at odds with her deathly pale face. She suddenly raised her wand and pointed it at the dragon's feet.

The crowd watched in absolute silence.

Then all hell broke loose.

The firm ground at the Fireball's feet suddenly transformed into a swamp. The change was so abrupt that its massive legs sank into the mud almost instantly.

In a flash, only the dragon's ferocious head was visible above the surface of the bubbling swamp. Its expression transformed from confusion to utter surprise as, instead of seizing the opportunity to flee to safety, Hermione still stood there with her wand still raised in its direction.

Roar! Accompanied by a crimson spell light flashing across everyone's eyes, the Chinese Fireball let out another earth-shattering roar, and this time, the meaning of pain in its howl was so clear!

"Miss Granger has hit the dragon with a masterful Conjunctivitis curse," Ludo Bagman cried out over the noise. "Achieving in one move what Viktor Krum failed to do in many! But alas, it may have been for naught! The situation has grown dire!"

Everyone understood what Ludo Bagman meant. The golden fireball held in the Fireball's mouth was about to explode, and at this distance, there was no way Hermione could survive!

Hermione also realized that the dragon's breath was about to burst out. She knew that if she turned and ran away, no matter in which direction, it would be a dead end, and the only way to live was--

Whoosh! The most thrilling scene appeared. As Hermione leapt into action. Instead of sensibly distancing herself from the immobilized dragon, she sprinted toward it!

At the last possible second before she would have slammed face first into the dragon's nose, she planted one foot on a small boulder that had just been swept down by the dragon's tail, leaped up, rolled a somersault in mid-air, and landed steadily on the big rock beside the head of the Chinese Fireball!

This stunning display of agility, the reckless courage etched upon Hermione's face as she faced the dragon drove the gathered crowd into a stunned silence. In that instant, no one present could see Hermione Granger as just another underage witch. No, in their awestruck eyes she was a warrior, a champion in the truest sense!

But this moment was cut short by a flash of blinding golden light and a wave of blistering heat. The fireball burst from the Chinese Fireball's jaws like a meteor and streaked toward the center of the arena.

The instant the sphere made contact with the stony ground it erupted into a towering pillar of flame. The inferno teared the sky radiating an aura of such destructive intensity that many of the spectators flinched back in instinctive terror.

This awe inspiring - and terrifying - display raged for more than a dozen seconds. As the flames receded, the crowd was astonished to see that a bubbling lake of molten rock had replaced the heart of the arena.

"Where is Miss Granger," Ludo Bagman shouted, shielding his eyes against the still brilliant glare with one shaking hand as he scanned the hellish landscape before him with rising panic.

"Is Miss Granger still...wait!" His eyes landed on an unexpected sight within the dragon's nest and widened in pure shock. A heartbeat later Ludo's magically amplified voice boomed across the stadium, transmitting his words across all of Wizarding Europe in a joyous cry, "Miss Granger has done it! She's got the egg! Hermione Granger is alive and unscathed!"

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